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House of Artois d'Amboise
The House of Artois d'Amboise ''(Maison d'Artois d'Amboise) ''is a princely house founded in 1758 at the behest of Marie Louise Clementine d'Artois de Conde, Duchesse de Guise, on behalf of her natural-born son with King Charles XII, Augustin Oscar. Charles XII granted the request, creating the House of Artois d'Amboise for his illegitimate son, granting the title of Prince d'Amboise to the house. This gave the house significant status in the court as it became a princely branch of the royal house. Nonetheless, they retain the stain of bastardy and would not inherit the throne before the Houses of Artois d'Orleans and Artois de Conde. The decision to create the house was a controversial one, opposed by the King's council and many members of the court. It was created nonetheless, the only branch officially created for any illegitimate child of King Charles XII. The Prince d'Amboise was given heightened status even above his elder siblings, which was unpopular among some. It was commonly believed that the creation of this house was part of the Duchesse de Guise's power mongering which came to dominate the late 1750's and early 1760's. Nothing like this has ever been done before, the creation of a full-Princely house from a legitimised branch of a ruling house. History Formation The House of Artois d'Amboise was created by decree of King Charles XII in 1758, though it was commonly known that the true power behind the decision was the Duchesse de Guise, the King's former maitresse-en-titre on behalf of their legitimised son together, Augustin Oscar d'Artois. It was thought that much of the insistence on the creation of this (in the eyes of others) unnecessary house was to build up the power base for Madame de Guise, as it was well-known that Augustin Oscar was Guise's favourite child. It would therefore have made sense for her to have insisted on the creation of this house to, in a way, wield power through the rank of her son. Status It was decided that the house would share the same status as the other princely houses descended from House Artois, though they would only be eligible to inherit the throne after all other Artois houses had gone extinct due to the stain of bastardy which they still bore. After the creation of this house, it was decided that none of the other titles granted to the other legitimised children of the King and Madame de Guise would be hereditary, hence the other titles would revert to the crown upon the deaths of the other Legitimes. It was decreed that Artois d'Amboise would continue upon the death of Prince Augustin however, with his eldest son Louis Joseph being named heir to the house's titles and fortune. The extremely high status of this bastard house was disliked by many, especially the other Princes du Sang, for there was a common belief among them that they should continue to outrank the newly created house by virtue of legitimate birth, though the terms of the creation of the house were clear that full princely status would be afforded to it. Current Members * Augustin Oscar d'Artois d'Amboise, Prince d'Amboise, Current Head (born 1737) * Marie-Irène Yolande de Plessis de Liancourt, Princesse d'Amboise, his wife * Louis Joseph d'Artois d'Amboise, Duc de Villiers, their elder son * Charles Edouard d'Artois d'Amboise, Duc de Dunois, their younger son Titles and Customs Titling Conventions * The head of the house bears the title of Prince d'Amboise. * The heir to the house bears the customary title of Duc de Villiers. * The second son is traditionally granted the title of Duc de Dunois. Titles * Prince/Princesse d'Amboise * Duc/Duchesse de Villiers * Duc/Duchesse de Dunois * Various counties